We identify top management leadership, a sophis- ticated management infrastructure, process management efficacy, and stakeholder participa- tion as important elements of a quality-oriented organizational system for software development. A modei interrelating ttiese constructs and quality performance is proposed. Data collected through a national survey ofiS executives in Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies was used to test the model using a Partial Least Squares analysis methodoiogy. Our results suggest that software quality goals are best attained when top management creates a management infrastructure that promotes improvements in process design and encourages stakeholders to evolve the design of the development processes. Our results also suggest that all elements of the organiza- tional system need to be developed in order to attain quality goats and that piecemeal adoption of select quality management practices are uniikely to be effective. Implications of this research for IS theory and practice are discussed.